What Could Have Been
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: When Argit stumbles across a strange device, he visits other timelines and sees what his life could have been in each timeline. Done as a request for brave kid. :)
**brave kid asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)**

 **Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I own nothing.**

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 **What Could Have Been**

Argit counted the gems that he had received in payment from his most recent business transaction. "Perfect," he said. "This will hold me for a bit until I find something else I can sell off."

It was still light out and so he decided to go hunting through some junkyards for stuff. He knew he could sell some of the junk for a good profit before his customers found themselves scammed. Now, some customers he didn't dare to cheat because they were pretty tough, and while he wasn't afraid of much, he was smart enough to not get on some of his customers' bad sides.

As he began searching, he noticed a device nearby that looked rather new. "Huh, someone threw away this prime piece of profit," he said to himself as he picked it up.

He almost dropped it when it suddenly lit up and felt himself being pulled into a direction he couldn't describe. He blinked as his surroundings changed from a junkyard to a forest. Thinking this was a Forever Knight trick, he glanced around quickly, his quills coming up in defense, ready to shoot out. But he didn't find the Knights and the forest was pretty quiet, so he relaxed.

"Where am I?" He asked himself as he sat down.

"Come on, Ben!" A voice cried out, making him jump. "Try to catch me!"

"See if you can outrun me, squirt!" Came another young voice.

"Hey! We're the same age, Benji!"

"Don't call me that!"

Laughter came after the playful-sounding banter and Argit hid behind a tree to try and see what was going on. His eyes widened when he saw a small kid that looked just like him, only younger, running and looking for a place to hide. He chose the same tree Argit was hiding behind. "Hi!" He said and his eyes widened. "Wow! You're like me!"

The older Argit couldn't deny that this kid was the same species as him. "Yeah, I guess I am," he said with a smile. "What are you doing?"

"Playing with my adopted cousin, Ben," said the younger alien. "I'm Argit."

"Really?" The older Argit asked in surprise. "That's my name too."

The younger alien's eyes lit up. "Cool!" He said before clapping his hands to his mouth. "Shh! We can't let Ben find us so fast."

Argit decided that was best as he tried to figure out where he was. Just then, a young boy came out wearing a white shirt with a black stripe on it and brown cargo pants. "That's Ben, one of my adopted cousins," said the younger Argit.

The older alien was now stunned that he was looking at a ten-year-old version of the boy he knew. "How old are you?" He quietly asked his young companion.

"I'm ten," the little alien answered before crouching and looking ready to pounce on his cousin. He leapt to do so, but Ben turned around at the same time and caught him.

"Gotcha!" The human boy said.

"No fair!" The younger Argit groaned. "You won again."

Ben had a cocky grin. "I'm just good," he boasted before he saw how down-hearted his adopted alien cousin looked. "Hey," he said gently. "How about this? I'll let you win next time."

Ten-year-old Argit looked up at him. "You mean it?" He asked hopefully.

"You bet," the young boy promised.

"Ben! Argit! Dinnertime!" An older voice called out.

"Coming, Grandpa!" Both kids called out in unison.

"Race!" The younger alien said happily.

"You're on!" The younger human said as they took off.

Argit decided to quietly follow them and saw the ten-year-old human was keeping his promise about letting the ten-year-old alien win and almost gasped in shock when he saw ten-year-old Gwen hug the small alien happily.

"You beat Ben!" She said.

"Yay!" Little Argit cheered happily as Ben came out and Gwen gave him a knowing look and he nodded. She did the same as they went over to eat the dinner their grandfather had cooked.

Looking at how his young counterpart interacted with them stunned Argit. He had been on his own for as long as he could remember with no family. Apparently, this was a timeline where he had a family.

The device in his hands began glowing again and the same sensation came over him as he decided what he had must have been a time-traveling device. "Didn't think these were readily available for sale," he said to himself as he found himself in the city of Bellwood, but he quickly noticed how different it was. Aliens were walking among humans, some even walking together. That stunned him.

"Most humans aren't that accepting of aliens," he said quietly, but then saw a female Crystalsapien with a human male and the human was holding a young girl who looked just like him, but had green eyes and hair that was a dark purple, but it looked natural. That gave him a big hint.

"Unless…humans have accepted aliens in this timeline," he said in realization.

Just then, a familiar, evil laugh broke out and he turned to see Vilgax coming towards town. "Tennyson!" He screamed out.

"Oh, man. Vilgax!" Argit gasped to himself and quickly followed the others who were evacuating the area, but then stopped in shock at seeing Ben 10, the teenage hero, arrive with Gwen and Kevin. Another couple joined them.

"Sorry we're late," said Charmcaster.

"My fault," said the Argit of this timeline as he saw Vilgax coming. Charmcaster quickly got ready to use her powers. "Hope, be careful."

She turned to him. "I'll be fine," she said with a smile that showed she appreciated his concern.

The time-traveling Argit's eyes widened. "Whoa," he said as he watched the team take down Vilgax quickly. This timeline's Ben turned to Argit, who was beside him.

"Still thinking about retiring?" He asked him. From his smile, Argit saw the boy was teasing his friend.

"No way, Tennyson," said this timeline's Argit. "You know I don't regret joining you guys and from what Hope has told me, she doesn't regret it either."

"Of course not," she said. "I'd be bored back at home."

They laughed and headed for a local eatery and the time-misplaced Argit followed them, finding his counterpart getting something from his car, promising to join his team in a few minutes. He then spotted Argit. "Hi," he said in surprise. "I didn't know there was another of my kind around."

"I'm just visiting," the time-misplaced Argit said, which was the truth. "I couldn't help noticing you are part of Tennyson's team."

His counterpart smiled. "Been with them ever since Ben found his watch about seven years ago," he said. "And I'm glad, because I was able to help my girlfriend get out of a tough situation."

"Charmcaster?" Argit asked.

The other one winced. "She…doesn't like that name," he said after a moment. "She was called that by some guy who abused her into using her powers to hurt others. That was before she met us and we got her out of there. It's taken a bit, but working with her and helping her has proven fruitful. She's changed and prefers using her powers to help us and prefers being called Hope. Personally, I like it better."

Argit nodded in agreement. "I can see why," he said. "Hope sounds much prettier than Charmcaster."

"Way better," said his counterpart as he got a dreamy smile on his face. "She's the best girlfriend I could ask for. I'm hoping that…maybe…she'll marry me someday."

"From the way she looked at you earlier, I bet she would," said Argit. "You're her hero."

The other one smiled a bit wider at that before nodding and hearing Hope call him. "Coming, sweetheart!" He called to her.

Argit felt the device warm up again and the same sensation came over him. "I always thought Charmcaster was pretty. Scary, but pretty," he said to himself as he began wondering what he'd see now.

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He was in a hospital and gasped, but it was deserted with the exception of a skeleton crew of nurses. Quietly, he looked around and saw his counterpart sitting in one of the chairs looking nervous. He noted that his counterpart looked to be in his late twenties. A gold ring was on his left hand, indicating he was married. Argit sat beside him. "You okay?" He asked.

His counterpart looked at him, looking tired, but also a bit surprised. "Do I know you?" He asked.

Argit shook his head, deciding it best to not say who he was. "Just someone passing by," he said. "But I noticed you seemed…nervous."

"I am," said his counterpart. "My wife, Hope, is in there, in the delivery room. She's giving birth to our baby."

The time-misplaced alien saw the delivery room doors up ahead. "First-time father?" He asked gently.

"You guessed it," said the other one. "I'm happy though too. I can't wait to hold my child. I hope it's a little girl, because I want her to look just like Hope."

Argit had to smile. "And if it's a boy?" He asked.

"Hope is hoping for that, because she wants the baby to have some of my features," said the father-to-be.

A nurse came out. "Mr. Argit, I have wonderful news," she said.

Both aliens stood up. "Is it a boy or a girl?" The new father asked. "How is Hope doing?"

"She's had a successful delivery and is asking for you," the nurse smiled. "Also, there's a couple little angels waiting for their daddy to hold them."

"A couple?" The older Argit asked in shock. "Twins?"

The nurse nodded and led the stunned alien into the room. The time-misplaced Argit followed after a bit, curiosity coming over him. He peeked through the window on the door.

His counterpart was hugging his wife and Argit was stunned with how beautiful Hope had become. He then saw the two babies and had to smile again. The little girl did look just like Hope and the boy had dark hair that matched his father's quills. "They both got their wish," he said softly as he watched the proud father hold his children for the first time.

Tears began to sting the watching alien's eyes and he felt the device warm up once more and he continued gazing at the proud parents and their little ones before it disappeared as he was teleported again, finding himself back where he started.

Blinking, he stood still as he looked at the device in his hands. This would make a great profit for him, but he just couldn't seem to let it go. "Could I really have been a hero?" He asked himself. "Could I really have had what I had wanted so long ago? A family?"

Being in his current timeline, Argit had a feeling it was too late for a family or even for a girlfriend in that matter. Who would even want to be near him? He was a thief and handled shady dealings.

He looked at the device again and headed home, placing it where he could see it and maybe revisit those timelines again someday.

And a small part of him hoped that maybe, someday, the wish he had given up on long ago would come true.

His wish to have a loving family.

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 **Please leave a review, but no flames!**

 **GoldGuardian2418**


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